


You'd Better Be Ready

by kribban



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-12-01 22:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20925395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kribban/pseuds/kribban





	You'd Better Be Ready

Jim hadn't expected the question and he's surprised at how little emotion there is in his voice. After what he's just been through - after what all of them has been through - Tarsus IV is nothing more than a faded memory. "I've already been through my psych eval, Sir."

Pike's expression is soft and he rolls back a little to rest his elbows on the table when he leans forward. 

"I know you're fit for duty, son. But being in command of a starship has the tendency of dragging up ghosts you thought were dead and buried. I need to know you'll be able to handle them when it does."

Jim's thumb twitches. "Honestly, Sir, I haven't thought about it in years. It was a messed up situation and I was lucky. That's all I can say about it."

Pike takes a sip of his synthale. They're both in civvies, but despite the denim jacket and the wheelchair, Pike still looks like an officer.

"And how do you feel about your part in it?"

Jim swallows around a dryness that no amount of synthehol could alleviate. He hadn't done anything on Tarsus IV. Hadn't tried to save anyone, hadn't even tried to survive. So many people had died, people he had known, and the only reason he was still alive was that his name hadn't come up in the selection. Fifty/fifty chance. The flip of a coin. 

But the worst of it... 

"The truth is, Sir, I had no part to play. I didn't do anything to improve the odds."

"And that bothers you," Pike says softly and his eyes are kind. "You were a kid, Jim. Nothing else was expected of you." 

"Yeah, well, I expected it of me," Jim says and the collar of his leather jacket is suddenly too tight. 

"That's your ghost, son," Pike says and has a satisfied look in his eyes. "Try not to let it get you killed."


End file.
